


Homecoming

by Kandakicksass



Series: Dying (to see you in the) Light [8]
Category: Dying Light (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 16:09:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6760888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kandakicksass/pseuds/Kandakicksass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyle and Rahim come back to the tower.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

It’s Jade who runs out to meet them when Kyle and Rahim slowly make their way up to the tower. They had made good time, considering Rahim’s leg, but he was a resilient kid and had mostly ignored the pain for most of the journey. He’d begun to wince once they were a couple of miles away, but they managed to avoid large clumps of walkers and had made it into the parking lot with few issues.

“I didn’t think I’d see the tower again,” Rahim murmurs to him just before Jade runs out, but her interruption stops him from replying.

“Rahim!” She sounds angry, but her eyes are red from crying, and when she reaches them all she does is pull Rahim into a hug. Granted, Rahim wheezes when she does so she might still be attempting to kill him through sheer force, but the crisis seems to be averted for the moment. “You’re a fucking idiot,” she tells him, and Kyle winces at how furious she sounds. He has to fight taking a step back when she turns her red-rimmed brown eyes on him. “And you!”

“Jade,” he says weakly, but she interrupts him.

“You brought my brother back.” Rahim is subdued and quiet in her arms – he’s shaking a little and holding on to the back of her jacket. Jade is petting at the back of his head, her eyes firm and stern and grateful. “I don’t know how I can repay you.” Embarrassed and unsure of how to respond, Kyle diverts his eyes, glancing around to double check for walkers. There are none, and reluctantly, he meets Jade’s gaze again.

“You don’t have to,” he tells her finally. “Keeping Rahim safe was as much my priority as yours.”

Jade doesn’t seem convinced, but she nods and turns toward the tower, supporting Rahim’s weight himself. “Come on, Crane,” she says instead of arguing, and he follows them closely. Rahim’s got his sister now and Kyle keeps his need for physical reassurance of Rahim’s wellbeing to himself. He doesn’t need to get grabby with him now.

That is, until they reach the knocked out stairwell and Rahim automatically turns toward Kyle. “I need a boost,” he says, eyes wide and earnest. “I can’t get up with my leg like this.”

“Of course,” he replies, already kneeling. He’s got his hands out, and Jade keeps Rahim upright while he gets the foot of his good leg into Kyle’s hands. “Alright, on three, okay?”

He and Jade get Rahim up in one piece and follow after shortly. There’s three guards right off the bat that greet them. Only one seems to know anything about Rahim’s suicide mission, and he claps Rahim on the back, a silent glad-you’re-alive. Rahim smiles wanly, but it fades once they turn the corner toward the elevator.

Brecken is standing there, glowering at Rahim. He looks like he should still be in bed, with new wounds Kyle will absolutely have to ask him about it, but he’s got energy enough to bellow “ _You fucking imbecile!_ ” The entire floor goes silent. “ _Do you have any_ fucking _idea how worried we were?_ ”

Rahim’s shoulders curve inward, embarrassed and ashamed. Kyle knows he deserves it, but it doesn’t stop him from wanting to tell Brecken to lay off. He crosses his arms and stands back – he’s not getting involved here. He’s not stupid enough for that.

“I really ought to slaughter you myself,” Brecken growls, jabbing Rahim hard in the chest with one finger. Each jab makes the boy wince. “That is _not_ how we run things in this fucking tower, do you understand? No one goes out on missions – especially not missions that big – without letting people know. You don’t just disappear, Rahim!”

“I know,” he says quietly, shamefaced. “I’m –“

“You’re gonna be more than sorry,” Brecket snaps. “You’re not leaving this tower for months, and – I swear to god, whatever else I can think up for you to do as punishment, you’re gonna do, you hear me?”

“You’re not my dad!” Rahim says hotly, an automatic reaction to being yelled at like a child. Kyle understands why, too. Rahim is a man – a young man, but a man, and this is degrading. “And I’m not a little kid, Brecken! I fucked up, I can admit that, but you can’t fucking _ground_ me.”

For a moment, Kyle thinks Brecken is going to make good on his promise to kill Rahim himself. Then, he deflates suddenly, surprising Rahim and Kyle. Jade comes up behind Kyle, and when he glances at her she looks just as uncomfortable. The thing is, Rahim’s _right_. Brecken can’t ground him – none of them can actually punish him, and it’s a startling reminder that Rahim could walk out right now and they couldn’t stop him short of tackling him and tying him up. It’s a terrifying thought, that Rahim could walk into danger whenever he wanted, and no one could stop him. Though he mostly operates out of the tower, he’s still a runner. Kyle had let himself forget that, and the reminder is incredibly unpleasant.

“I thought you were going to die, you little shit,” Brecken says quietly, and Rahim winces.

“I know.” 

Finally, Brecken pulls him into a hug, and Rahim lets him, even goes so far as to hug him back.

“By the way,” Rahim says, muffled by Brecken’s shoulder. “I’m like, doing the apocalypse equivalent of dating Crane over there. Just so you know. You’re still not my dad, but. I thought you’d want to be aware.” Kyle would laugh at his awkwardness if he didn’t want to die of embarrassment.  

“Please don’t get physical in front of me,” Brecken answers calmly, not even looking at Kyle, who is probably blushing up to the roots of his hair. He’s gonna fucking kill the kid, right after he kisses him again in a place where they’re safe and can relax. Jade, however, snickers a little at his side and he can’t help but grin a little himself, blush aside. “Alright, you moron. Go upstairs,” Brecken adds gruffly after a moment, clearly done with the emotional stuff.

Rahim looks over his shoulder and doesn’t move, clearly waiting for Kyle, who comes forward and lets Rahim even more awkwardly take his hand, like they’re teenagers going public for the first time. He slots their fingers to together and squeezes Rahim’s hand reassuringly. It does feel weird, if he’s being honest, because no one is very romantic anymore, but not in a bad way. He’s never seen anyone so much as kiss openly, and they had at least three married couples in the tower. It’s too grim a setting for romance, but then Rahim smiles at him and he’s reminded that there are still beautiful things in Harran.

“I’m tired,” Rahim says, and Kyle nods, unlacing their fingers so he can pull Rahim’s arm over his shoulder and take some of his weight.

“To bed then,” he says. They go upstairs, and when Rahim’s curled up in his own bed, safe and sound, Kyle squeezes in next to him and holds him, not quite ready yet to let him go.  


End file.
